Ryanair calls for EU to ban air traffic controller strike

Ryanair has called for the EU Commission and the French government to prevent air traffic controllers from going on strike.

The budget airline was forced to cancel 26 flights tomorrow, June 24, due to a French air traffic control strike. The company said the fourth strike of its kind in 12 months was the product of "a small number of French Air Traffic Controllers".

"[We] again called on the EU Commission to remove the right to strike from Europe’s air traffic controllers, who are once more attempting to blackmail ordinary consumers with strikes," the company said in a statement this evening.

In the US, air traffic controllers are banned from going on strike, which came to a head in the 1981 PATCO strike, which resulted in Ronald Reagan firing more than 11,000 controllers.

"It is high time the EU Commission removed these air traffic controllers’ right to strike, in the same way as ATC in the US, and many of Europe’s armies and police forces, are prohibited from striking by law," said Ryanair's Chief Marketing Officer.

Customers flying tomorrow should expect delays and possible further cancellations, and the strike action may affect flights flying to, from, or over France.